Disgaea: Birth of an Overlord
by Berserk1
Summary: Love for the mysterious and arcane: Check. Small black book able to teleport you to another realm: Check. Common sense to know when to shut up and survive a little longer: Pending.
1. Chapter 1: Evil is as evil does

Greetings all and thank you for taking a moment to indulge yourself in this work of fandom and spontaneous work created by my idea gremlin. Others have a muse, I have a gremlin. Yes, fed after midnight and it worked out for the best. I digress, I am a fan of the game and have had the idea of my own story bubbling inside my mind for a while so I hope you enjoy and leave a review/criticism/hope to see happen/other kind of comments.

Disclaimer: I don't own Disgaea, Nippon Ichhi does, Laharl is my lord and annoying master, may his laugh forever go on.

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Chapter 1: Evil is as evil does...

Hot. The only way to describe the summer heat. Oceans of sweat, rank air sticking to the back of your throat and the price of any kind of refreshment sky rocketing faster than a Korean missile test. Thankfully school was out and college letters begun to arrive, bringing the anxiety and joy of knowing that either your future is to serve greasy burgers or to create a machine that will replace the poor sap flipping burgers.

A young man with brown hair, denim jeans and blue t-shirt dragged himself home, eager to get away from the mass crowd of parents, teachers and alumni all excited that the last day of school was over. He carried his gown folded up in his left arm as he held onto his books with his other. Stopping at his mailbox he held his breath as he peered inside to find it empty, giving a low sigh. Not exactly the studying type, he had been rejected from several schools of choice already and the pickings were becoming slim. Pressing the gown to his door, he freed up his hand to twist the knob only to have it open early on him causing him to crash to the floor from the momentum of his books. A cheery face greeted him when he looked up, causing another groan to escape his throat.

"Is that any way to greet your sister? After I went to the trouble to open the door for you Arthur?" Seeing her brother roll his eyes she stomped off muttering about ungrateful siblings and wishing she was adopted.

"Did any mail come for me? I'm expecting some college letters." Only hearing a vocal shrug, Arthur dumped his books onto the kitchen counter to sift through the many letters and bills. Stopping when he reached a small flyer, he held it up and scrutinized it. It was offering the sale of a rather old looking book with a eight pointed star on the cover. Being an enthusiast in the arcane and unknown Arthur grinned at the odd find. Writing down the address and lining his pockets with what spare cash he had he stormed out the door ignoring his sister's cry of being home before his parents make dinner.

The flyer told him to head to the entire side of town, thus having to take the bus then train caused a slight decrease in available fundings for the book. Rereading the article in his spare time, Arthur's bronze tinted eyes absorbed every detail of the book, every marking and every possibility to make him the first one there to get it. Something in the back of his head told him that the star marking meant bad news but religious dogma be damned, he must have it. Finally boarding the train, he sits near the back car to allow himself to be unbothered to keep looking over his future prize. Failing to notice the seemingly large man sitting next to him glance over he jumped slightly when he heard a coarse voice.

"So you're into that kind of stuff huh?" Looking up he saw the man was wearing a large overcoat covering the majority of his body and a small rimmed hat nestled on his bald head. It was the odd shape of his ears that struck him the most odd, they almost seemed like they curled upward ever so slightly.

"I've always liked the mysterious. Figuring out things and putting my mind to the challenge always intrigued me since I was a kid." A small laugh responded.

"Hmm, sounds like you have a strange future ahead of you then if you are going to keep delving into that stuff." He looked up and smiled. "This is my stop, see you around kid and don't get your nose too deep into the books." Arthur blankly stared as the man got off the train and disappeared from view in an endless sea of people.

The train ride ended and the route to the end of Arthur's quest came into view, bringing a bit of disappointment to his eyes. The address was to a very run down buiding which brought a sense of dread creeping back into Arthur's mind. Slowling opening the door he looked at the mess inside. Mountains of books, trinkets and baubles everywhere he looked. Even covering the counter. Brushing some away he rang the bell. Then again. And a third time. Finally in a repeated motion which abruptly stopped when a hand slapped down onto his stopping it.

"Yes, thank you for making sure my bell works. I would have never had known without you." the owner sheepishly smiled at his remark showing aged teeth and decay causing Arthur to gag silently.

"Sorry, I'm here for the book mentioned in the article." he hands the owner the flyer and was then met with a loud cackle.

"You?! You came for the book? The book of untold secrets, wonders, mystery and terror? The book that will open the very gates of Hell and plunge the world in eternal suffering and darkness?!" Arthur gave the man an unimpressed stare following the false sales pitch.

"Yeah...that book." the owner smiled wide, again showing his gross teeth.

"Let me get it for you." disappearing into the backroom, Arthur heard a series of crashes and cursing and then the owner appeared again. "Here you go." A confused look followed.

"It's, smaller than I pictured it to be." The ownder indeed got the book, only it was about the size of a black book for girl's numbers and not a great tome Arthur had imagined.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Arthur could only nod at that. Reaching into his pocket he was quickly stopped by the owner. "Free. Take it."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, just take it."

"Did you spit in it?"

"Stop being an idiot and just take it!" Arthur placed a hand on the book and a small trace of purple light appeared on the star marking. When held in both hands it lit up completely and a warm sensation washed over him.

"Ok, how the hell did you do that? It was a good trick." the owner smiled and this time his teeth were pearl white.

"Magic." Waving goodbye to the boy he hummed a small tune, once again fading into the back room.

Scanning over his treasure, Arthur opened the book and looked through the pages. Strange sigils, letters he never recognised and pictures of odd beasts dotted every corner of the book. Finally getting home later that night he locked himself in his room to fully study, he finally found a page with words he understood. Loading up his computer he typed in the wording of several sentences. Some were in Arabic, others in French, German even Japanese. It made no sense as to why an incredibly old book would have the languages of current day times AND dialects. Reading an English passage he found out just what kind of book it was. 'To who reads this book, your life is forfeit. In the fires you will burn, your world shall turn and enslavement is your prize for violating thy eyes. -Overlord Zarus'

"Overlord....Zarus? What the hell kind of name is that?" Arthur would soon find out as the book began to skim rapidly past pages until it stopped at one with a drawing of dragons swirling around devouring their own tail and in the center the eight pointed star glowed. With a loud bang the room dissolved around him and next he knew he was standing in the open of a town with all sorts of monsters and people staring blankly at him. "This isn't where I parked my car." he said weakly as the crowd moved in on him. "Aw shit..."

Chapter one: End


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Hell

Chapter 2: Welcome to Hell

A soft tapping echoed in the dungeon. Arthur sat on a stone hard bed slumped foward bitterly drumming his fingers as he recalled how he went from reading his new book to winding up in the middle of a strange town to getting thrown into a dank cell.

_"Look, I'm a little lost and if you would be so kind as to tell me where the next bus to 'getting the hell outa dodge' is I would be very grateful." Two of the odd creatures exchanged confused glances then burst out laughing._

_"It's been forever since another human stepped foot into our world. And a funny one at that too!" he had the head of a lion but the body of a bird with a scorpion tail at the end. Arthur could only give a light laugh as well, trying to keep the situation from getting worse and to keep his mind from breaking down at what he's seeing. The other creature looked like a giant suit of armor with a flame where his head should be. Now several of the normal looking people started to make their way toward him and Arthur swore to himself for making a bit of a scene._

_"I'm just a bit lost and thanks anyway but I'll be going." turning around he got an upclose look at the 'normal' people and suddenly would have preferred to be next to the giant armor and the manticore. One of them wore a sort of robe with barbs all around while the other two looked like something out of a kung-fu movie. Shirtless men with pony-tails barred the only exit and their grins suggested that they had other ideas._

_"How much do you think he'll fetch? Looks like he can work quite hard down in the mines."_

_"Slavery? I say we just see how many bones we can break before he passes out. Three-hundred HL after five bones for me." Arthur gave a quick thought to that idea and shook it away. Thinking fast he came up with a distraction._

_"Look over there! Something distracting!" Details wasn't his specialty. Thankfully it worked and the three became dumbfounded long enough for Arthur to slip through. Turning down a few streets he quickly saw that more and more of these monsters were everywhere and that the 'people' had to be the basic populace. Hearing a loud roar, he turned around to see that the manticore and the three men gave chase. Going as fast as his legs could go, Arthur began regretting not taking all those gym classes more seriously. Stopping abruptly he saw right away that he was in the central plaza, where he started. The giant suit of armor noticed him and drew a misproportion sized sword. Now the group behind him caught up and before he could react, Arthur was sent flying into a statue by one of the shirtless men's kicks. Trying to get the air back in his lungs he looked up to see his assailants' eyes were wide with terror and soon his too. The statue started to tip over and from the look of it, it was very important._

_"No no no no no! Don't fall!" Vainly trying to hold up the statue he could only watch in horror as it fell to the pavement and shattered. By now the monsters and people were running at full speed to their homes and away from the scene. Arthur could only wonder what the result of a broken statue could herald. He felt light suddenly and saw he was off the ground, turning he saw just why the people fled. A large, gnarled hand gripped his collar and turned him to see a pair of red fires crackling from a large, bleached skull. The jaw-bone moved like there was flesh as it curled into a slight grin. Noticing right away, he looked exactly like the statue that just shattered. He had a pair of jet-black wings and purple skin with ripped muscles along the forearms. Serrated claws ended at the end of his hands and Arthur didn't want to find out just how sharp they were._

_"Well, I must say, this is unexpected. A human in my domain. Had I known I would have such an unusual guest I would have had a party ready."_

_"Oh well that is very kind of you but I don't want to be made a big deal."_

_"I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!" the monster's voice boomed and Arthur's ears rang aloud as his eardrums tried to heal. Throwing him back on the ground, it snapped it's finger and two winged creatures materialised from an eruption of flame. "Take him away until either I know what to do with him or I get hungry." The demons gave a soft giggle before their iron hard grip closed around Arthur's body and neck causing him to black out. The last thing he remembered was a vaguely familiar crest on the demon lord's hand._

Snapping out of his day dream, Arthur gave a heavy sigh wondering how it came to be. Sure he wasn't the smartest guy, not the strongest or even the quickest. Hell, he could do some great things. A few moments passed before he gave up trying to find a good example to pull himself out of his foul mood. Putting his hands in his jean pockets he quickly remembered the book. That's right! It might be able to get him out of this mess and even get him home. Digging around a few minutes he came to the conclusion that he either lost the book or it was still in his room.

"Hmm so you're the human that's causing Lord Cerin such grief." Arthur jumped almost out of his skin when he looked up and saw a strange girl face to face in his cell. She wore a strange mix of a tunic and a dress with a giant bow behind her. Red/orange hair down to her shoulders with green eyes, she gave a big smile at his sudden shock. Her ears, pointed like that man's from the train, twitched and she quietly cursed. "Stand back one sec." Arthur saw her mouth move as her eyes became silverish white and suddenly the door blew off it's hinges and fell with a great clatter.

"How the hell did you do that?" Arthur was completely amazed at what this girl just pulled off.

"Umm....I was trying to freeze it and make it brittle." The sense of amazement quickly wore off. "Anyways, I saw what happened to you so I decided to follow the Imps and see what was going to happen to you." Arthur smiled at the bravery this girl showed in going to rescue him.

"Thanks, that means alot to me. Miss uh?"

"Anita and don't worry, I only followed because I was bored and thought you might be exciting. And was I right!" She gave a big grin failing to see the annoyed look Arthur gave her as he grew tired of her with each passing moment. Digging into her pockets, she pulled out a small medallion, with the same crest Arthur kept seeing everywhere. Uttering a small incantation she put it on the ground and the next thing he knew Arthur was outside in the middle of the woods. Putting it away, Anita saw Arthur's dumb struck face and quietly sighed. "It was how I got into your cell so easily. I just think of a place or person's face, say the spell and zap! I'm there. Pretty cool huh?" Arthur could only nod as his mind raced with so many questions. Where was he? What exactly is she? What were those giant monsters? How can he get home? Growing dizzy he sits down to rest, his mind a raging battlefield as each question fought for the right to be asked first. Finally getting himself back together he asked the first thing that came to his mind.

"Just where the hell am I?!" Anita giggled and swung her arm around Arthur's shoulders.

"Why, the Netherworld of course." She saw his face grow pale and it would then be the second time he would pass out that day.

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"Tell me again what happened, I didn't hear you the first time." a loud pop followed as the limp form of a guard fell to the ground. Wiping his hand clean, Cerin eyed the officer in charge of the dungeon warily as the terrified demon struggled to find words.

"Y-you se-see your lordship, th-the human just wasn't there. His cage door was thrown across the floor and he was just g-gone." His three followers braced for impact in expecting a severe beating. Instead they were met with their lord's grating laughter, the fires in his eyes bright orange.

"Well it seemed that worm had some fight in him. Unusual for humans to have such strength. Send the imps to find him at once and bring him unspoiled. I would like to see just exactly what power this human has." Taking this as their chance to escape, they left immedietly to the eerie to send out their charges.

Cerin mused to himself the unfolding of the current events as he sat back in his throne and stared blankly at the ceiling. The old demon's words were growing more true by the day. Upstarts were sprouting up everywhere to challenge his usurped throne, a human would appear in his domain and now his favorite television show, General Dismemberment Hospital, was cancelled. The prophecy proved to be in fact true. This sort of news worried him but he waved it off with a self taught lie that nothing will ever defeat him when in fact he knows that is far from the truth. Standing, he made his way to the window to gaze outward onto his kingdom. His view then became blocked as a Prinny went down the outside of the window to clean it. Grumbling, Cerin pushed the window outward knocking the Prinny into the chasm below. Content with the bodily harm and peaceful view, he let out a long sigh as he awaited the next set of news to enter his throneroom.

Chapter 2: End


End file.
